


find familiar

by nonbinarywithaknife (littleboxes)



Series: dimension 20 [21]
Category: Dimension 20 (Web Series)
Genre: Campaign 05: A Crown of Candy, Character Study, Gen, Introspection, Lazuli's death is vaguely referenced, Other minor characters - Freeform, POV Sprinkle (Dimension 20), Ravening War-Era, of sprinkle or theo? i dont know, overusing the word delight and all it's synonyms, sprinkle uses he/they pronouns isn't a headcanon i ever thought i'd have but here we are
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:01:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24887251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littleboxes/pseuds/nonbinarywithaknife
Summary: Find Familiar (1st level Conjuration; ritual): You gain the service of a familiar, a spirit that takes an animal form you choose. Your familiar acts independently of you, but it always obeys your commands.(Sprinkle, on such things as: himself, learning, devotion, and his summoner.)
Relationships: Sprinkle & Theobald Gumbar
Series: dimension 20 [21]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1706107
Comments: 19
Kudos: 40





	find familiar

**Author's Note:**

> i don't know what this is. this is a word salad of me rambling about theo and big concepts that sound pretty. also i love the find familiar spell because there's an implication that the creature you hang out with and that helps in battles used to be like. a fey, just chilling. and now they're a house cat, or in this case, a sprinkle. wild.  
> anyway sure hope this is readable because im allergic to sentences of reasonable size

Sprinkle isn't yet Sprinkle when they are Summoned for the first time. They find themselves in a form that is strange. Static- before, they could twist and wind, become sugar-grass one moment and a hanging jawbreaker fruit the next. The concept of a single form was so abstract as to be unintelligible, useless.

But not-yet-but-soon-to-be-named-Sprinkle finds themselves in a Place. A Place with their Summoner who stares at them with what they will come to learn as Surprise and Shock and trickling in slowly as Sprinkle hovers in the air, Pride. And Summoner will look at Blue and speak to Blue.

Sprinkle, young as they are, newly formed and still getting used to many things, foremost among them Corporeality, will not understand what they are doing. Eventually they will learn that it is talking, speaking, _speech_ , but until then they will simply connect to Summoner and understand that way.

That is how Sprinkle comes to understand that Sprinkle is _them_ , _Him_. Him! He is Sprinkle and Sprinkle is him and Sprinkle rolls it around in his mind- a mind! such a novel thing to have!- and decide he likes it.

Summoner speaks to Blue a little more- time! another new thing, new _concept_ , and Sprinkle revels in its strangeness- before he takes Sprinkle into his- hands! Sprinkle soaks in the knowledge of his Summoner like a sponge and delights in understanding. 

Sprinkle still does not have hands, or a mouth with which to speak, but rests in the hands of his Summoner who looks at him with Pride and Delight and other emotions Sprinkle hasn’t yet been able to learn, having only been corporeal for a few seconds- seconds! time! fantastic!- learning! a big concept and one that is foreign but sprinkle decides he will have time to, to _learn_ about learning- and his Summoner names him to Blue.

Blue runs a hand across Sprinkle- pets! petting!- and Sprinkle makes a noise. It isn’t speech, but Sprinkle takes Summoner’s knowledge of speech and makes it his own and it’s not quite right but it’s _Sprinkle’s_ \- something new! Something new and something his!- and there is Surprise and Delight on Summoner’s face and Blue- smiles!- and so Sprinkle- purrs!- not quite right but Sprinkle decides it will do, language is _hard_ , especially for someone newly corporeal, however delightful he finds corporeality- some more as Blue continues to pet- pet! a way to touch and feel and _learn_ about things, corporeal things!- Sprinkle.

This is how Sprinkle spends his first day in the world: being held- pet! touched, _learned_ , and Sprinkle decides he is glad- (happy! A concept, an emotion, smile when you’re happy, Blue smiled, Sprinkle made Blue happy!- Sprinkle feels for his Summoner’s knowledge of happiness and decides that he would like- like!- that to be how being learned about makes him feel (feel!)- Sprinkle decides he is glad to have a Summoner that learns about him the way Sprinkle is learning about the world and concepts and language and happiness. 

As his Summoner stops holding him Sprinkle decides to float- a familiar thing, for once, although familiarity itself is strange but Sprinkle ignores that in favor of relishing the feeling of freedom that comes with twisting and winding with the wind- with the memory of wind, because in this Place- castle! home!- the air is still- still? a new concept he takes in with delight and confusion- confusion! something he feels frequently alongside curiosity- curiosity! another strange familiarity- and Sprinkle distracts himself by floating in and around his Summoner.

His Summoner is shiny, and hard, and Sprinkle feels through their link and learns- armor! shell! protection!- and learns that he has armor too! It is not as shiny- disappointing- disappointing! Sprinkle decides to like the feeling for it’s novelty if nothing else- and not as big- and his summoner is very big! Sprinkle learns that he is small- learns there are many places you can be when you are small and not big, learns this _many_ times- Sprinkle has armor of his own nonetheless and Sprinkle delights in this similarity.

Another thing that Sprinkle learns from his Summoner- and not from their link like many of the things he’s learned, so _many_ things to learn! and not from deciding like the other things he learned that weren’t from the link, but from _watching_ , from _experiencing_ , what Sprinkle learns is _Devotion_. 

Sprinkle watches his Summoner stand guard for days and nights- has learned this is a long time, learns by watching his Summoner and the expressions- expressions! emotions made manifest! wonderful!- of the other one, like the Summoner but not, Toby! In learning Toby Sprinkle learns about names, learns Blue is Archmage- Lazuli-, learns his summoner is Sir Theobald Gumbar- Theobald- Theo- Protector-

Sprinkle watches Summoner-Theo and Toby and sees tiredness- tiredness is slumping of shoulders, eyes open too wide- bodies! so complicated, detailed, many intricacies, many parts, Sprinkle decides he’s glad to not have so many intricacies, must be hard- tiredness is hands that grip too tightly and mouths that yawn widely anyway and,

Sprinkle watches and sees: tiredness; stubbornness;

 _Come on, Theo- I admire your dedication, we all do, you’re setting a great example, now would you_ take a break _? How good a guard will you be sleep deprived and exhausted?_

_I’ve been exhausted before, Toby, this is not exhausted. Besides, I've been appointed the Archmage’s ward. I can do no less._

_It’s your job to kill yourself standing guard for someone who may not even-?_

Toby _. Go back to patrol. I’ll be fine_.

but not just tiredness; stubbornness: Sprinkle doesn’t have the right words and decides that that is _frustrating_ , decides there simply aren’t words for his Summoner-Theo’s devotion-loyalty-fealty. It is, it is- the shine in his eyes and the grip on his shield and the determined fall of his feet; it is something that is what Sprinkle was: a will, a force, something ephemeral and intangible that his Summoner-Theo somehow captures and uses to coat and curl around his words and around himself, so heavy and clear Sprinkle can almost-but-not-quite see it.

More time passes, and Sprinkle learns how to fight- fight! fight and attack and defend and _protect-_ and Sprinkle is not made for protecting, too small, not enough, but Sprinkle can _distract_ , can _help_ \- help!- so Sprinkle learns _battle_ and time passes and through his Summoner-Theo Sprinkle learns _loss_.

Learns _failure_ learns _pain_ learns,

 _need to do better next time_ , learns, _need to_ be _better next time_ , learns, _if there is anything I can do about it there won’t be a_ next time _._

Through Summoner-Theo Sprinkle learns about _sacrifice_ and laments that he can only be a help, a distraction. Remembers though he never really forgot _devotion_ and devotes himself to being the best help, the best distraction. When the weight of sacrifice and pain and loss and battle seems to drag down the shoulder of his Summoner-Theo, Sprinkle squeaks and squeals and prods his face with what he has decided is front, for today.

Sometimes it is enough and sometimes it isn’t but it is his best and Sprinkle has learned that sometimes that is all he can do. 

  
  
  



End file.
